John Calipari typically dreads "homecoming" games for his players.

The Kentucky head coach may have to reconsider his stance after the performance freshman guard Ashton Hagans gave on Tuesday night in his return to the Peach State.

Hagans, a native of Cartersville who originally committed to Georgia prior to the firing of Mark Fox, scored a career-high 23 points in leading No. 12 Kentucky to an impressive 69-49 win at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens.

"I'm home, so I had to try and put on a show," Hagans said. "I feel like (my family) was very excited. My dad, I don't think he sat down the whole game."

"If we can get our whole team playing to their strengths, like he's doing... what he's doing is special," Calipari said.

Seven of Hagans' points came in the opening moments of the second half as the Wildcats used a 9-0 run to turn a four-point halftime lead into a commanding 13-point advantage.

Kentucky (13-3, 3-1 SEC) never looked back. Georgia (9-7, 1-3 SEC) got no closer than eight the rest of the way.

It marked the second straight dominant second half for the Cats, who held Vanderbilt to 17 points after the break on Saturday at Rupp Arena. The Bulldogs had just 18 points in the second half, going 5-for-26 from the field.

Hagans also filled his stat line with five rebounds, four assists and three steals in an extremely productive 35 minutes of play. Tyler Herro (12) and PJ Washington (10) joined him in double-figure scoring for the Cats.

Kentucky got solid contributions off the bench from Nick Richards (4 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocked shots), EJ Montgomery (6 points, 6 rebounds) and Jermarl Baker (6 points) to help compensate for a scoreless game from leading scorer Keldon Johnson.

Nicolas Claxton led Georgia with 12 points and nine rebounds.

*****

In this Cats Illustrated "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK victory...

THE GOOD:

Kentucky finally snapped its long string of poor starts to open halves with the 20-8 run to put Georgia in a hole for which it was not equipped to climb out.

THE BAD:

The Cats still started the game slowly, falling behind 11-6 six minutes into the action, but the UK staff will be pleased with what it saw coming out of the locker room at halftime. Is a starting lineup change in order?

THE UGLY:

Keldon Johnson' was averaging a team-high 15.5 points entering the game but went scoreless for the first time in his college career. The Cats need to find a way to get him back on track against a team with as much firepower as Auburn will bring to the court on Saturday.

GAME BALL:

Ashton Hagans, Kentucky -- The freshman guard was unfazed by chants of "Traitor! Traitor!" by the UGA faithful. He started off a bit shaky, hitting only one of his first seven shots from the field, but finished with a bang. In somewhat similar fashion to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander last season, he has gone from semi-overlooked signee (in comparison to his peers) to perhaps the Cats' most valuable player.

BY THE NUMBERS:

0 - Points for the two teams' leading scorers (Keldon Johnson and Rayshaun Hammonds) in the first half.

4-for-27 - Three-point shooting for Georgia.

6 - Consecutive games with at least three steals by UK's Ashton Hagans, a school record.

7:21 - Time that UK held UGA without a field goal spanning the end of the first half and the start of the second half.

19.2% - Georgia shooting from the field in the second half.

43-35 - UK advantage in the rebound column.

127-26 - Kentucky's all-time record against the Bulldogs, including a current 12-game win streak.

QUOTABLE:

"I still love Dawg Nation, but I'm a Wildcat now." -- UK guard on one-time UGA commitment Ashton Hagans

UP NEXT:

Kentucky returns to action Saturday at Auburn for a 4 ET tipoff on ESPN. The No. 14 Tigers (12-3, 1-1 SEC) will play at Texas A&M on Wednesday night prior to their clash with the Cats.